Safe?

When we think of God, what exactly do we think? Is He safe?

I believe that in many hearts of many people, we believe God is unsafe. You sin and you had better not go near Him. If you tried, He will punish you in some way. Sure, He loves you, but when you associate yourself with sin, He no longer associates Himself with you.

But... is that true?

Now God hates sin. And He even hates it when we go and associate ourselves with it. He especially hates it when we make friends of it and hang out with it. But here is one truth we never seem to get, and therefore, we get scared to go near Him because of our disbelief: HE LOVES US!

No, he doesn't love it when we sin, as a matter of fact, He will go and discipline us for it, but He loves us through it all. As a matter of fact, His chiefest goal is to get us out of it by means of His great love. To extricate us from its grasp so we can be free to have an intimate, special relationship with Him.

God is, in fact safe! Satan's goal is to make us think that going near God would be a disaster, but that is so not the case. Going to Him will be a soothing balm, a place of quiet relief, a place of comfort and release, acceptance and love, grace and strength, might, power, and complete satisfaction. Not a place of rejection and hatred!

Oh, how the devil loves to paint nasty portraits of our God! How he loves to distort His character and make Him appear weak or hateful! Listen to his lies, and God will no longer be your refuge and strength. He will not be safe for you. But it won't be God's fault, it will be the fault of your perception gotten from the mouth of the devil.

The psalmist put it correctly when he said, "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty."

His next words are so important for us: "This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God., and I trust Him."

We must declare this truth to us daily, else the devil will continue to paint and sketch pictures of God that will distort His beauty! We must tell ourselves, "God is my only Refuge, my place of safety! I cannot go anywhere else to be safe, but in Him!"

There is only one place where true rest is found, where we truly are safe, and that is with Him in His very presence, running into His tower of strength.

One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 18:10: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe."

Run into that tower and you will be safe. There is no safer, more secure place than in God's very presence.